What Is That Large Orange Building On I4? HostDime Brings Orlando’s First Tier 4 Data Center to Eatonville
10 Tech Leaders: HostDime.
Anyone who drives on I-4 with any regularity has seen the unique, glass-encased, seven-story building rising just off the eastbound lanes, near Eatonville. Set to open the second quarter of this year, the $58-million facility is what’s known as a Tier 4 data center. This 100,000 square-foot structure will be the first of its kind in Central Florida and is fully owned, operated and designed by HostDime.
With current headquarters in downtown Orlando, HostDime’s mission is to “design, build and operate the next generation of purpose-built data center facilities at the global edge,” says Jared Smith, the company’s director of marketing.
With a global workforce of 250—60 of whom are in Orlando—HostDime builds data centers in markets company officials believe are underserved when it comes to the digital infrastructure needed to power the modern-day cloud.
Founded in 2003 by Manny Vivar, HostDime relies heavily on UCF. Smith said 80% of HostDime’s local workforce are current UCF students or graduates. “We only expect that local university relationship to grow,” Smith says.
HostDime builds data centers in what it identifies as underserved communities. Courtesy of HostDime.
The new data center is a Category 5 hurricane-rated facility that is designed to host national and global tech conferences for up to 300 people. Employee amenities will include a game, break and quiet rooms, cafeteria, fitness center and a first ever two-story “floating” sports court.
HostDime’s pitch to customers is that most data centers are largely structures built during the 1990s for outdated telecommunications needs and have been remodeled. Tier 4 designs, according to HostDime, feature fault tolerance and redundancy at every level. That means no service downtimes due to unexpected breakdowns.
The company intends to use the new Orlando data center to give back to the community by offering a STEM lab for youngsters starting in grade school. It will feature a museum detailing how the Internet started, as well as its evolution into an everyday tool.
The 300G+ public network is a native carrier neutral facility with a managed Layer 2 network, with six diverse entry manholes and 10+ fiber carriers who will be on-net to interconnect to the global public network infrastructure.
